Talk:Waiting staff

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Adopted orphan redirects for searching: Waitress

I've rewritten this completely, because I think that this is because of some confusion, ie. waiters' mathematics, from linking from Infinite Improbability Drive. Dysprosia 09:05, 2 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I've rewritten the drivel to make it a little more palitable. Do we really want this here? SGBailey 16:08, 2003 Sep 3 (UTC)

From the article:

"[...] Depending on the type of restaurant, this may involve other uncommon duties, such as a Western-themed restaurant may require waiters and waitresses to line dance." Ah, and to yodel in an Alpine inn, to perform a belly dance in an Oriental café, and to move like a mermaid in a seafood restaurant?

In other words, isn't that statement a bit far-fetched? <KF> 01:57, 7 Feb 2004 (UTC)

It was poorly constructed, and it's appropriately gone, but it's entirely accurate. I can attest to [1] as one example. VermillionBird 22:08, 8 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"Many cultures in the region (East Asia) believe that leaving a tip implies that the waiter is not being paid enough by his or her employer."

Unless this occupation is one of the highest paid jobs in this region, I don't see why leaving a tip would be a problem. NorthernThunder 16:57, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

For the same reason American's think the French are rude just because they don't SMILE NON-STOP FOR NO REAL REASON :-D. Different cultures have different viewpoints. Bihal 04:53, 21 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Waitron???

Out of interest, why is the title of the article "Waitron"? While I'm all in favour of gender-neutral language, I'm also in favour of dialect-neutral language. "Waitron" is a term confined to the US, first attested in 1985 in a gender-neutral context (before this it is only attested as a derogatory name for waiting staff, "contemptuously regarding waiting at tables as a mindless, robotic activity", as the OED says.

Might I suggest a slightly-more recognisable title as "waiting staff", and replacing the over-use of the obscure-to-non-Americans term "waitron" with some kind of gender-neutral circumlocution involving "waiting staff"? Should there be no objections, I will move the article to something which is neutral as regards usage as well as gender. Dewrad 17:17, 3 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with you. "Wait staff" perhaps? I've only ever heard Waitron used in the U.S. as something of a joke, and more of a paraody of gender neutral language than anything. Dina 17:21, 3 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Waitron" is obscure even in the U.S., and I think would be unfamiliar to most of the population, though I have heard it used seriously. "Waiting staff" seems favored in the UK, while "wait staff" or "waitstaff" seems favored in large former British colonies. To my midwestern U.S. ears, "waiting staff" is certainly understandable but sounds odd, while "waitstaff" or "wait staff" sound natural. I'm going to add "waitstaff" and "wait staff" to the article's lead sentence. Some google evidence for cultural preferences:

Google.com returns 0.4 million results for "waiting staff" (in quotes so it's a single phrase), 1.8 million for "wait staff," and 1.4 million for "waitstaff." Choosing "pages from the UK" on google.co.uk, the results are 194,000 for "waiting staff," 20,300 for "wait staff," and 10,100 for "waitstaff." (That 194,000 ostensibly includes the 0.4 million from google.com's general English-language results). Google.cn's "pages from Canada" returns 2,410 for "waiting staff," 45,700 for "wait staff" and 12,000 for "waitstaff." Google.com.au's "pages from Australia" returns 20,900 for "waiting staff," 41,100 for "wait staff," and 17,200 for "waitstaff." Google.com.in's "pages from India" returns 170 for "waiting staff," 2,980 for "wait staff," and 1,040 for "waitstaff." -Agyle 18:49, 17 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Manifesto

The Wilfred Gowers-Round Manifesto should be removed, it has no relevance to waiting tables today and it is representative of one person's views on how the job should be performed. As a waiter, I know that table service differs according to type of restaurant and region. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nativetexan1984 (talk • contribs) 03:22, August 23, 2007 (UTC).

Australian tipping

I don't know where the author got their impression that it is not customary to tip in Australia. As someone working as a waiter I can vouch for the fact that the majority of customers tip. It is more a case of tipping being the norm and not tipping being an accepted rebuke from a customer who may think that the service was not up to scratch. Not recieving a tip is an insult to a waiter's standards of service in Australia - but it would be very rare for an Austalian waiter to demand to know a customer's reasons for not tipping.

Tipping, whilst appreciated, is not usually expected by taxi drivers or bartenders in Australia, although at high-end bars you sometimes recieve your change on a plate.

Not every eatery expects tips, you don't tip at McDonalds for instance. Although a good rule of thumb is that if a restaurant is formal enough to issue your bill to you at your table instead of you having to go to a counter to pay directly, then a tip of around 10% is customary for solid, if unremarkable, service. (If the majority of people pay at their tables, anticipating the bill and paying at the counter does not mitigate the expectancy of a tip).

Lofnazareth 19:28, 15 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A 2005 Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) article on tipping said that in Australia and New Zealand, "Tips are not expected but are appreciated, especially in the 10 per cent range." That sounds a bit different than your view, but not outright contradictory. The Wikipedia article on tipping, which cites no sources in this regard and I presume is wrong/obsolete, says tipping is "very rare" in Australia, and "frowned upon" in New Zealand. I think this article should mention that tipping customs vary greatly, maybe provide some typical range and the more extreme ends (e.g. illegal in parts of China, expected before service in Russia, according to SMH), but defer the country-by-country details to the tip article. -Agyle 20:06, 17 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]